Check out top stories on issues of Access to Justice.
In this edition you will find a compilation of articles examining the new legislation proposed by the Ontario Government that aims to change the Act governing Legal Aid Ontario.
‘Smarter and stronger?’ New law is really a cruel gutting of access to justice for the impoverished, CBC News
Michale Spratt, partner at Ottawa criminal law firm Abergel Goldstein & Partners examines how “the devil is in the details,” in the proposed ‘Smarter and Stronger Justice Act.’
Questions remain on funding sustainability in legal clinic system, Law Times
In this interview with Law Times, Dana Fisher, Local Vice-President for the Society of United Professionals LAO Local, discusses concerns with current levels of legal aid funding and access to justice for low-income people moving forward.
Critics question changes in Ford government’s proposed legal aid law, like how the term ‘low-income’ is nowhere to be found, Toronto Star
Legal Affairs Reporter Jaques Gallant compares the proposed new Act governing Legal Aid with the one in the books now. The article examines the four major changes and discusses the impact of the differences with critics of the proposed Act.
Attorney General Doug Downey on Metro Morning
Metro Morning host Farrah Merali asks Attorney General Doug Downey about the removal of “Access to Justice” and “low-income” from the preamble of the new Legal Aid Ontario law, as proposed in the ‘Smarter and Stronger Justice Act.’
LISTEN HERE (Audio Clip, 2MB)
Ontario cancels planned future cuts to legal aid; this year’s cut remains, CP24
In this video interview, Dana Fisher, Local Vice-President for the Society of United Professionals LAO Local responds to the changes proposed to the Act governing Legal Aid Ontario.
Ontario should restore funding to legal aid system, Toronto Star
This editorial examines how the harm caused by this year’s $133 million cut to Legal Aid Ontario cannot be fixed by cancelling the proposed cuts for 2020.